


Act to hide the secret

by Eonsister



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/F, F/M, From friends acting like siblings to lovers, One-Sided Attraction, Protective Maki, different motives, there might be added tags in the future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-05-15 04:38:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14783720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eonsister/pseuds/Eonsister
Summary: Getting kidnapped and forced into a killing game was not on Shuichi's to-do list. Now, trapped together with his friend Maki Harukawa the ultimate assassin and 14 other people. How will the young detective get everyone out when death and despair is looming in every corner?





	1. Mouse after Cat

**Author's Note:**

> Eon: My first fanfic here on archive!~ It's also my first fic of Danganronpa so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Shuichi: What do you think you're doing?
> 
> Eon: What do you mean?
> 
> Maki: He means that we know you're up to no good...
> 
> Eon: .... *turns away from both* I own nothing but the crazyness of a plot and hope you'll enjoy the story!

Shuichi Saihara was writing a report about the latest case his uncle had solved, or to be true, HE had solved, but since it was his uncle who was owning the agency where he was working as an ‘assistant' was it him who got the bigger amount of fame. It wasn't that he hated the fact that it was his uncle who got all the fame. It made his job to hide that he was an ultimate easier since everyone who came to the agency thought it was the older man who was solving the cases and not the high schooler.

"Geez, you really didn't want me to investigate this case did you cousin? Typical her to only leave me as little clues as possible..." He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the evidence he had gathered for the case he had personally taken on since knew that his uncle never would solve it.

"If I found that bear and his insane game then I'm sure I would find those missing high schoolers before more disappears..." He made a sigh before looking at the clock and made a small gasp, "Shoot! I'm late for school!"

He looked outside and saw the sun rising as he made a yawn. "I must have been too caught up in the case that I forgot to sleep..." The evidence was placed in a bag as he walked to the door. "Guess I just have to lock the door myself since uncle probably hasn't arrived yet..."

He was still thinking of one of the evidence which was in his bag. It might have the look of a regular flashlight, but with the help of some… ‘offered help' from some people he had caught trying to rob him on the way to the academy if he had been too distracted by his own thoughts. (he shivered from the memories of that one or two of them had been close to violating him if he hadn't ‘tested' the flashlight on them) He made a sigh as he slowly got lost in his thoughts. "I should probably try to ask someone from class 75th… They should be able to help since there's a lot of inventors in that class…" 

He was checking the time when he suddenly stopped up, looking around as he felt a shiver down his spine. "Weird... it feels like someone is watching me..." He made a frown and walked quicker since the feeling of being watched wasn't leaving.

It was only when he reached the gates that he felt the chill disappear and made a relieved sigh. "First no sleep, and now I have a feeling of having a stalker? Geez, the next thing is probably that our class have to work with class 69 or class 85?" 

He frowned as he spoke since he was worried that he was jinxing himself. Class 85 was famous for being the class with assassins, and everyone was making a joke about class 69 like, ‘if they're not full of perverted quotes then they're not from class 69'. 

While most of the classes laughed at the jokes about class 69, was it like everyone knew not to mess with the assassins from the other class since they didn't get their title as ultimates for nothing, even the bravest of his classmates made asking class 85, the last choice if they could. But Shuichi had another opinion about it. He had become friends with one of them, the female assassin Harukawa Maki, but had been told to call her Maki.

He would usually talk with her before the other students came and ruined the peaceful quietness that the two had enjoyed. But that was one of the reasons he had taken the case personally. The brown-haired assassin had suddenly disappeared, and while others were thinking that it was probably a typical assassin thing, was Shuichi not quite as sure, no, he was almost positive that something had happened to her and he didn't like that one bit.

He was halfway through the courtyard when he saw someone run towards him, "Saihara-san!" He stopped up and raised a curious eyebrow as the person run towards him, "Um… can I help you?" The girl tried to catch her breath before looking up at him. "Yes! A girl from class 85 asked me to make something flash resistant, and this is what I came up with!" She opened a small box she had in her hand who was containing contact lenses which looked like normal linses, but something told him otherwise.

Shuichi looked curious from the lenses to the girl. "When you say, ‘girl from class 85'… Are you referring to Ma- I mean Harukawa?" This earned him a confirming nod. "Yes! Harukawa-san told me to give you them as soon as I saw you Saihara-san." Hearing this made Shuichi confused. How would Maki know that he was going to ask someone to create what he had just been given?

(Timeskip)

Shuichi was standing in front of the sink and mirror in the boy's restroom, as he looked at the little box that was containing the contact lenses. He frowned a bit since he had never tried to use lenses before but made a deep sigh before starting to put them in his eyes. The urge to claw the lenses out came immideally after he got them on and couldn't help but blink while his eyes watered from not being used to them. "Urgh… should have seen this coming…"

He stood there until his eyes were more accustomed to having the lenses on them and made a sigh as he placed the now empty box in his pocket, "Probably should have asked how long I could have them on at a time…" He walked out of the bathroom just as the bells sounded for the next class which made him make a little smile. He was always excited for the lessons that he had together with Kyoko Kirigiri, and what's more, was he feeling proud of the fact that she had been the one who suggested that he should call her his cousin.

He walked in through the doors as he raised an eyebrow. Instead of just a small class did it look like two classes had been mixed. From what he could see was it Maki's class since the others he recognized from his class was looking at them with scared eyes, but it was like the moment Shuichi had stepped inside was all from class 85 looking at him in a friendlier way, than they had before he and Maki became friends.

It was in the middle of the class when the teacher announced that while the two classes were mixed were the class going to have different uniforms on, which would probably look like those for the ones outside of Saishuu, but it would only be for a couple of days.

Hearing this made Shuichi suspicious. He didn't know why but it was way too sudden for his liking, and it seemed that he was not alone since he heard his ‘'cousin's'' whisper, "You think that it's suspicious too, don't you?" This made Shuichi narrow his eyes just a bit as he made a nod as he was whispering back. "Yeah, uniforms that aren't for Saishuu students? Something doesn't add up…"

 

( time skip )

The school was over for the day, and Shuichi was on his way to his uncle's agency. He had been told to get there right after school was over, so he hadn't been able to change from the uniform, which he still was confused over why they had to wear them. He was walking peacefully when he heard a car which sounded like it was driving way too fast to be inside the limits and was about to turn around to see the number of the vehicle so that he could tell the police.

He almost saw it, but never got to see all of it since someone had sneaked up behind him and covered his eyes, completely blinding him, making Shuichi try to escape while screaming for help. He tried to scream but it was muffled into a cloth that smelled like what he instantly recognized was chloroform. He tried not to inhale it, but the panic got the best of him making unaware of how much he inhaled through his struggle. 

His struggle to get away slowly stopped as the chloroform kicked in and he last thing he heard as his eyes closed was something about being the last one but was too sleepy to think about what it meant and fell asleep by the feeling of being shoved into a car.


	2. Deadly teddy bears, awkwardness and expainings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eon: Welp, here's the 2nd chap! I hope you'll enjoy~
> 
> Shuichi: You're worse than Kokichi...
> 
> Eon: .... At least I'm not lying as much...
> 
> Maki: What was that?
> 
> Eon: I own nothing but the craziness of a plot!

The next thing Shuichi knew as he woke up and opened his eyes, was him laying on a cold floor "This looks like... a school's hallway?" He sat up and tried to remember what happened, but the last thing he remembered was him walking from Hopes Peak Academy towards his uncle's agency. "Wait a minute..." His eyes widened in an instant. "I was kidnapped... That means uniform must have been some sort of mark for them!" 

He made a sigh and looked down the hall as he made a frown. "I should probably investigate this place..." While he was exploring was he getting frustrated little by little since he only got more questions than he got answers. 

( Time skip )

Shuichi had wandered around until he found himself in front of what he guessed would be a room with gym looking doors. "It's usually in the gym that the emergency messages are given... perhaps it would be the same here..." He opened the door and noticed that seven other people were already there. Shuichi looked around at the others and had the feeling that he recognized the people from somewhere but couldn't quite put his finger on where for the moment.

Well at least six of them since one of them, who was looking just as shocked as he, "Maki..." He whispered the name under his breath before walking over to her to not draw too much suspicion to why he would talk to her. Maki narrowed her eyes and had a look that others would think was a death glare, but Shuichi could see the worry in her eyes as he stopped in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Maki snapped at Shuichi who shrugged with a huff as he already had her words translated in his mind to - 'They got you too?' He made a smug little smile that he always made to make Maki understand that he agreed to speak nonsense, "Well, you look pretty in that uniform, why wouldn't I want to talk with you?" - 'Yeah, they probably gave us the uniforms, so they knew who to kidnap.'

They kept talking keeping the surface talk casually so it wouldn't seem suspicious to the others who were in the room and neither to those who were arriving little by little. It was only when he heard the doors being slammed open that he stopped his conversation with Maki and looked over at the door when he listened to some of those who had arrived while he had been talking "Look, two more." "That makes it sixteen in total." but Shuichi regretted looking seeing who it was that had arrived.

Shuichi felt like the time stop for a moment. His eyes widened as he looked at the new-comers, one was a green haired male while the other was a blond haired girl. It was at that point that Shuichi realized why he thought that the other people looked so familiar. "I-It's them... it's the missing high-schoolers..." He whispered that under his breath before Maki laid a hand on his shoulder looking curious at him.

He was about to talk when five huge machines appeared in front of them and while the others were screaming in panic over just seeing the robots, was Shuichi looking he was more confused with a hint of nervous when he looked at them. "Exisals?! But they should only be in the beta test state in the future foundation's facility?!"

Seeing her friend's nervously confused look, together with what he said made Maki push Shuichi behind her so she could protect him if they tried anything. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing that the robot or 'Exisal' as her friend had called them, who was standing in front of them turned to the others. "Hey, the kids aren't supposed to know what these Exisals are yet, are they?!"

The question got all five robots to argue with each other. But before Shuichi could think of a reason for no less than FIVE exisals that he knew, should not have been out of the testing states yet, did he hear a voice that made him freeze and get pale as a two-colored bear appeared out of nowhere. It made Shuichi's body shake since he recognized the bear from the description in the few things Kyoko had given him.

Maki who noticed the trembling was more than ready to attack the bear, but something told her that it would be a horrible idea even if the monocubs, who had been controlling the exisals, had jumped out of them to greet there ', daddy'. "Shuichi.. do you know that Monokuma bear?" Maki whispered that as she got a nod as Shuichi whispered back as the two-colored bear talked to the high schoolers. "Yeah... he's the mascot of the killing game and is the symbol of despair..." He made a little smile. "Kinda funny how he took two students from Saishuu when he's the symbol of despair itself."

Maki just made an understanding nod but was inside amused by the Saishuu deal. It was only when they heard Monokuma say that none of them looked like ultimates in those uniforms, that the two Saishuu students, paid full attention and before any of the people knew what was going on had all sixteen gotten new clothes. Fourteen out of sixteen was looking at their clothes in wonder like they had never worn them, but the last two was looking at each other with an alarmed look which screamed 'How did he know about our real uniform?!'.

Shuichi tried to keep his head calm as he looked at Monokuma, who was talking about them not having received their first memory before the bear pulled a flashlight. Shuichi had a very good guess what was for so before the bear could turn the flashlight on, was the detective whispering in his friend's ear, "Act like the other student, we can't let him know about us yet!" 

Maki was first looking confused at her friend. If it wasn't for knowing that the detective would sometimes do the weirdest things to keep them safe, would she probably have made a yelp as Shuichi pulled her down on the floor when everyone who had been blinded by the ‘flashlight’, in the bear’s paw, fell to the floor. She had closed her eyes as she felt herself being picked up by, what felt like, a metal arm and would have blown her acting if it wasn’t for the fact that she knew that, Shuichi would mock her with it for who knew how long.

Neither of them knew where they were being carried to, but it didn’t seem too far when they heard the bears talk to each other through the machines. “There’s no other humans in there… let’s put these two in there!” The question ‘In where?’ went through their heads, before they shortly after were placed on what felt like a floor.

Both Maki and Shuichi, waited a couple of minutes after the robot noises had disappeared, before opening their eyes. The sight that met them was that they had been carried into a library looking room. It was filled with books about everything. 

Shuichi made a sigh as he thought over the situation, they had been kidnapped and was now who knows where the high-schoolers he had searched for was right in front of him, but who knew how much panic it could bring if anyone knew that he and Maki were different than the others… He was looking at Maki while thinking of their time spend together at Saishuu, but that made him realize something about Maki. “Maki, I know your title is the ‘ultimate assassin’ at school but think about it... How do you think people would react if they knew that it was your title?”

Maki thought about Shuichi’s words. She WAS aware of the idea that the others wouldn’t trust her, and they would probably be much more suspicious of Shuichi for being her friend. “I know where you’re coming from, but I don’t know what my title should be except ‘ultimate childcare giver’” She felt herself relax a bit but covered it with a pout as she played with one of her pigtails when she saw the detective softly smile at her. “What? do you wanna die?” She felt her cheeks heat up when she heard him chuckle.

Shuichi couldn’t stop himself from thinking how cute Maki looked when she was playing with her hair. There had been times, back when they were back at Saishuu academy, where Shuichi would entertain himself with the thoughts of him and Maki dating, even if he were sure that the assassin would kill him before she would go out with him. “Nothing, it’s just that it’s a fitting title for someone as cute as you.” Both of them froze from those words before Shuichi looked blushingly away.

“N-Never mind, let’s forget I ever said anything…” Maki just made a silent nod before both got up on their legs. “I guess the inventor found and gave you the contacts before you were grabbed, since we both remember what’s going on, right?” The assassin made a silent relieved sigh as her raven-haired friend made a nod, but she also knew that it would lead to some questions. “How did you know I was going to ask somebody to make something that could prevent the flashback light’s effects to work?” 

The question made Maki look away and play with some of her hair. “I might have looked at some of your notes and thought that you would sooner or later ask someone from class 75 for this sort of favor.” She made a little smile at Shuichi’s surprised face, and would probably have commented on it if it wasn’t for the fact that the sound of a door opening and two persons walked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi: .... *is blushing while hiding in a corner, listening to 'how could this happen to me'*
> 
> Maki: *Is blushing while glaring at Eon* D-Do you wanna die?!
> 
> Eon: *Sweat drops* please don't kill me... *turns to reader* I hope you liked it! Comments will be read and answered, so I'll see you in the next chap! 
> 
> ~ Eon ~


	3. Meet the ultimates (pt 1)

Both Maki and Shuichi looked towards the door as it was opened and saw two people, Shuichi recognized from his unsolved missing person cases as Kaede Akamatsu and Rantaro Amami. Both Saishuu students knew that their conversation had to be postponed as the two persons got over to them and the blonde spoke. “Hi, my name is Kaede Akamatsu, I’m the ultimate pianist and this Rantaro Amami. What’s your name?”

Shuichi was curious about the fact that Kaede had only said what her own ‘ultimate talent’ was and not her companion’s. He pushed it to the back of his head as Maki spoke the words that he assumed was her way of telling him to start acting while playing with one of her pigtails. “Maki Harukawa. Ultimate child caregiver.” Hearing his friend call herself caretaker made Shuichi mentally make a relieved sigh, before he made a small smile. “I’m Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, nice to meet you.” He then looked at Rantaro. “I hope you don’t mind me asking but… what is your ultimate talent Amami-san?”

Maki didn’t want to admit it, but she was just as curious as her detective friend. She had no doubt that Shuichi would have wanted to interrogate the green-haired more if it wasn’t for the Kaede girl and her shifting the attention over to Maki. “A child caregiver? Wow, I would never have guessed!” Those words made Maki think of her orphanage and made a pout. “I know I don’t look like I would like children… And you’re right… I don’t know why they are coming to me of all people…”

Shuichi couldn’t help but smile. Maki had told him about her time in the orphanage, but also how she got her title as Ultimate Assassin, which had made him want to free her for that world, so she could decide what to do with her own life. He made a sigh as he heard Maki growl a little as she told Kaede that it wasn’t her choice that she got into the career she had, “I hope you don’t mind me asking but… do you remember how you ended up here?” The blonde girl shook her head before Rantaro spoke while he scratched the back of his head, “Sorry… neither of us remember anything else than we were kidnapped and woke up here…”

Shuichi made a nod after hearing this. He knew that they sooner or later would have to ‘’compare their memories’’ with the others so hearing that the two in front of them only remembered getting kidnapped made him plan how to act but wanted to see if it was only those two how remembered that little.

Shuichi could almost taste the awkwardness that was beginning to get between the four of them and looked at Maki. “Say, why don’t we go out and see if there are other peoples around here Ma… Harukawa-san?” The detective flinched when he was about to say Maki’s name out of habit, but the look she gave him only told to be careful. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Maki didn’t show it, but she had been worried about if the other two had caught it when Shuichi had been about to call her, her name. She knew she had told him to call her Maki in the past but they both knew that, if the acting had to be convincing, then they had to adapt to their given situation so she walked out of the room together with the detective. They were walking down the hallway when Maki made a little smile. “And here I thought I would be the first one to blow that we’re not strangers to each other, ‘ichi.” She had to hold back a giggle when she saw her friend pout.

Shuichi was about to say something when two ‘people’ ran towards them. Shuichi was curious since he only recognized one of them from his unsolved missing person cases as Kokichi Ouma who was chasing somebody he didn’t recognize. Maki and Shuichi were both getting the feeling of being dragged into something weird. “Please, stop chasing me!” 

Maki looked at the new peoples and felt a pang of annoyance, when she saw her friend look quite uncomfortable with his role as a shield. She was about to say something when the raven-haired detective got away from the one who was hiding and heard him sigh as they both looked at the strangers before Shuichi looked back and forth. “So, let me ask you two some questions… first of all, who are you two and why was I suddenly turned into a human shield?” The female assassin wasn’t doubting the fact that Shuichi was acting by saying he didn’t know either of them since she had peeked of the pictures Shuichi had of the other disappeared students back in his room at his uncle’s agency.

Both Saishuu students silently agreed that there was more to Kokichi as he made a smug grin, “I thought that it was politer to introduce yourself first.” That comment made Maki narrow her eyes, and she was about to talk when Shuichi spoke. “I’m Shuichi Saihara, the ultimate detective, and this is Maki Harukawa, she’s the ultimate child caregiver.” Neither of the two friends liked the look the smaller boy gave them, which looked like he knew that Shuichi was lying about Maki’s talent and silently agreed that the gremlin COULD, and probably WOULD be very dangerous, if left alone.

Just as sudden as the look had appeared was the look gone again, and he was wearing a childish grin. “Nishishi~ I’m Kokichi Ouma, the ultimate Supreme Leader!” Shuichi just nodded like it was the first time he heard the name, even though the only thing he didn’t know about was what ultimate talent, the despair loving bear had given the cheeky high-schooler. “I’m leader of an organization with 10.000 members, and before you ask what the name is, then I’m not telling!” 

Shuichi knew that he would get a headache from talking too much with the smaller one, so he decided to hurry up and ask the question that would tell him if it was just Rantaro and Kaede who had their memories snatched and then replaced or if other people had been affected by the flashlight. “Can you remember what happened before you woke up?” Kokichi made a shrug after the question was asked, “Nope, don’t remember anything else before getting shoved into a van...” Kokichi made a smug grin as he placed a finger on his mouth. “Or is that a lie?” 

Shuichi already had the feeling that the boy would only give him a bigger headache if he tried to figure him out, so he turned his head and looked at the white-haired who made a smile. “My name is Kiibo, I’m the ultimate robot, nice to meet you.” Shuichi wasn’t getting the feeling that Kiibo would cause trouble, but there was still something bugging him about the ‘robot’.

Was it because he hadn’t known about him? No. It was something else… Something else that he couldn’t put his finger on. He made a silent sigh but before he could ask the robot the same question was Kokichi’s voice heard as he asked the robot a question that neither of the friends had seen coming, “Hey Kee-boy, do robots have dicks?” 

That question stunned both Saishuu student. Maki had thought that class 69 back at the school had made her immune over for such a question but she just felt like choking him before she grabbed the neck of Shuichi’s uniform as she dragged him away while mumbling for herself, “And I thought THAT class had the most annoying people in it…” Shuichi head back the urge to chuckle until they were out of hearing range before making a little snort, “That sounded like a question for class 69 didn’t it?”

Maki rolled her eyes since she knew he was right but didn’t want to verbally admit it in other ways than her old habit, “Do you want to die?” This made Shuichi chuckle for a moment before he made a frown. “I don’t know why but… I think that we need to be careful around Ouma-kun… The look he gave us, when I told him your talent, was certainly not one of someone who completely believed the lie, that’s for sure…” Shuichi heard Maki make a sigh before she turned to look at him. “We were probably just too much on edge… He might be dangerous, but there’s no way he knows about us.”

Shuichi wanted to believe her, but a little piece of his mind told him that Kokichi would require more convincing than the others. “I hope you’re right… Welp, we can only hope nobody is listening to us talk-“ Shuichi stopped talking when he and Maki heard a loud noise followed by some loud swearing. They looked at each other before running the way they heard the sounds.

By the time they arrived was the room empty beside the mess, the person or persons who had been in here had left which looked like they had been searching for something. “Geez, I haven’t seen such a mess ever since I saw your room, with all those notes and journals everywhere and then you screamed the moment you saw me.” The brown-haired assassin made a short and quiet chuckle when she saw Shuichi pout with a slight blush. “I-I was working on a lot of cases! And I didn’t expect you to suddenly appear in my window!” 

They continued to take turns in embarrassing each other, not realizing that what sounded like small friendly pokes to them, sounded more like a harsh argument to others. Maki was about to say something when they were interrupted by a voice, “Excuse me, is everything alright?” Both Maki and Shuichi looked confused at each other, before turning to the maid looking female who had approached them as Shuichi spoke, “Yeah, everything is alright why do you ask?” This made the taller female smile. “My apologies, it sounded like you were having a big argument, so I wanted to know what the cause was.” 

Maki shook her head as she looked at Shuichi who looked like he had already guessed who it was but was curious about the talent. “Don’t worry about it. What is your name by the way?” That made the maid smile as she made a polite bow, “My name is Kirumi Tojo. I am the ultimate maid, if there is something you require then do not hesitate to ask me.” Maki, who had more or less understood why Shuichi had asked what the other remembered, was now making a nod. “If that’s so, then what’s the last thing you remember before getting here?”

This made Kirumi make a slight frown. “I apologize, but I do not recall anything but that I was approached by some people who put me into a van, that is all I remember…” This made both sure of one thing. The flashlight had indeed wiped out all their original memories and made them think that they were real ultimates, like the two friends, or at least the people they had met. Shuichi made a little smile while looking at Kirumi as he took Maki’s hand, surprising the girl, and began to speak, “Thank you Tojo-san, we’re gonna see if we can find anyone else.” 

They parted ways with Kirumi and walked through some new corridors, as Maki made a sigh. “With those persons we have met until now… then I REALLY hope the next one is on level with that Kirumi’s sanity…” This made Shuichi make a soft chuckle as he smiled at her. “With our luck? I hope that we find someone who is somewhat as sane as Kirumi, but for all we know then we could meet someone who would molest you in your dreams!” That made both try to imagine it, resulting in wanting to forget the image in their heads while silently hoping, that they hadn’t jinxed themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you guess who was in the room?~
> 
> If yes - Then bravo! was it that easy?
> 
> If not then you'll see next time~
> 
> I hope you have enjoyed reading, and leave a comment and I'll see you next time!~


	4. Meet the ultimates (pt 2)

The two friends were walking around the place when they heard voices coming from behind a door with a sign that was usually used for kitchens. “Seems like there are people in here…” Shuichi made a nod of Maki’s statement before grabbing the handle, “Let’s see who we got in here-” He had been about to open the door when Maki laid a hand on his, making him look at her, and couldn’t help but get curious when he saw her eyes having a rare challenging look. “When we get in there and see who’s in there… wanna see if we can guess the talent that they have been given before we ask them?”

That made the detective make a small chuckle while making a smug look. “Oh, you are SO on Maki” He stopped the smug look right before the door opened and they walked in through the door and saw three people inside what looked a dining room.

The first one was a female, who had green eyes and long, dark-brown hair, who had been put into two long braids. She was somehow able to have something that looked like a pinwheel in her hair which they guessed was some sort of bow. She was wearing a blue sailor uniform while having a pink choker with a bell, making both think of a cat wearing a collar with a bell for a moment. She was wearing knee-high socks and shoes who looked kind of like slippers to those who didn’t know what they were.

They looked at each other as they whispered their guess,

Maki – “Ultimate sports player.”  
Shuichi – “Ultimate fighter.”

The second one was a small girl with reddish-brown eyes with red colored chin-length hair. She looked like she was trying to ignore the other girl who seemed to be all over the little strawberry-haired girl by slightly covering her lazy lidded eyes, who had an annoyed look in them, with a pointy-hat. Her outfit was a black blazer with gray accents and a gray blouse underneath. She was wearing a red pleated bubble skirt, a pair of dark brown tights and brown old-looking boots with white ribbons tied around her ankles to finish it off with.

Shuichi – “Ultimate loli?”  
Maki – “More like Ultimate magician…”

The last girl was sitting at the table, working on something they didn’t know what was. Her hair was long and strawberry blonde color and had brown goggles with yellow accents on her head. From what they could see had her eyes an icy blue color and was wearing a clearly modified pink sailor uniform and matching skirt. The collar of her uniform was showing a lot of her cleavage since there was no cover on her chest. Her hands were covered with black fingerless gloves and were wearing black high-heeled boots.

Maki – “…”  
Shuichi – “I… don’t even want to guess…”

 

Shuichi made a sigh as he mumbled their names for himself, being careful that only Maki would hear his voice. “Tenko Chabashira, Himiko Yumeno, and Miu Iruma… I wonder what kind of talent, that Monokuma gave them…” Maki made a shrug before the girl Shuichi had identified as Miu noticed them. “Who the fuck are you two?” Maki didn’t know if the other girls noticed it, but she had no problems with seeing the ‘Oh-boy-here-we-go look’ Shuichi made for a second before making a little smile.

“I’m Shuichi Saihara, I’m the Ultimate Detective, and this is Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate Child Caregiver. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions.” The girls gave him looks that ranged from disgusted to raised eyebrow. “Hm! Typical degenerate males to think they are more important than the females…” Shuichi wanted to smack himself in his face from what the Tenko girl had said before he heard the voice of the one he knew was Miu Iruma from one of his most recent missing person cases.

“Just answer the questions he wants to give you flat chested bitch!” Maki had to hold back herself from chuckle from the face that Tenko was making, while Shuichi was looking awkward as Tenko glared at him. “Well? What are you waiting for, you degenerate male? Ask what you wanted!” This made Shuichi want to smack himself in the face again while Maki secretly rolled her eyes. “I wanted to ask the three of you of your names, what your talents were, what you could remember and if any of you have been in the rec room with the sports equipment since it looks like somebody has been there.”

Tenko’s voice held no interest like she just wanted him to go away. “My name is Tenko Chabashira, I’m the Ultimate Aikido-master.” She made a ‘don’t-care’ shrug as she answered the last two questions, “And I never went into the rec room since I’ve been together with cute little Himiko ever since I woke up!”

Both Shuichi and Maki tried to decide if they should petty the small girl or laugh of the duck face she was making. Maki was letting Shuichi ask the girl who had just made the duck face her name the same question and couldn’t help but think of the children from her orphanage when the girl presented herself, “Prepare to be amazed. Fall to your knees. I am Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Mage. .... well I'm just officially known as the Ultimate Magician...”

The word ‘cute’ ran through both of their heads before they heard the last girl speak “The hell is that kind of lame introduction is that, you flat chested loli-wannabe!” both Saishuu students raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything since Tenko glared at her. “Himiko-san is not a loli-wannabe, she’s a real mage with real magic! I bet you can’t even come up with anything better!” The strawberry-blonde made a ‘teh!’ sound before turning to Shuichi and Maki. “I'm the gorgeous genius, whose good looks and golden brain would go down in history. I am the one, the only, Ultimate Inventor, Miu Iruma!”

Shuichi wanted to make a loud groan and tell that he knew but knew it would be dangerous if one of them were the mastermind. “Right… So Iruma-san, about the questions I asked Chabashira-san and Yumeno-san.” This made Miu look a bit grumpy away from them. “Well, I’ve already told you my name and talent.” She then looked at them with a mix of intrigue and confusion, “But I don’t remember anything before some guys with masks on kidnapped me, and don’t worry pig-tail, I haven’t been near the rec-room, so I didn’t see anything if you and your boytoy there got it on in there!”

Both Maki and Shuichi began to blush from Miu’s comment, and the detective knew that he had to think fast since there was a good chance that Maki’s little ‘habit’ would peak it’s head up from such a comment. He quickly took the assassin’s hand and pulled her with him as he spoke to the three girls in the dining room, “Thanks for the answers!”

It was only after they reached a room with what looked like an exit that they stopped and made a sigh. “Jeeez, I never would have thought we would find someone like her in here.” Shuichi spoke as he frowned earning a nod from Maki, “Yeah, and she just had to be inventor which will probably mean that if we want something special then it’s her we are going to talk to…”

Both was in their own world when they heard a voice behind them, “May I be so rude and ask who you are talking about?” The tone made a shiver crawl down on Maki’s spine and made Shuichi make a yelp while almost sounding like a girl and when they looked at the one who spoke were they thinking the same thing ‘Creepy stalker!’ One of Maki’s eyes twitched, and she was about to give him a piece of her mind, but Shuichi beat her to it.

“Who are you, and what do you want from us?!” The laugh he made combined with the taller male, was enough for Maki to be sure that if they were back in the orphanage, then she would beat him to the verge of death if he came close to any of the children no matter how much taller he was than her. “Kehehehe. Do not worry, I was measly listening to your conversation and became curious about who you were talking about.” Maki was on the edge to yell ‘stranger danger’ from the weird way he was staring at them, “My name is Korekiyo Shinguji, I am the Ultimate Anthropologist” He closed his eyes as he made a quiet laugh. “I am sure you are wondering; what is an anthropologist, am I correct?” He opened his eyes just to see the door being closed, “Oh… They left…”

Shuichi and Maki had hurried out of the door when Korekiyo had his eyes closed, not wanting to listen to him talking. Shuichi scratched the back of his head as looked uncomfortable on the door, “Welp! I’m not going back to talk with that folklore creep before it’s necessary…” He got surprised when he heard someone make a snort but smiled when he looked at Maki who was trying not to laugh, “’Folklore creep’? really ‘ichi?”

The black-haired detective made a small chuckle before he made a sigh, “Yeah, that’s what I’m going to call him for now. That would at least take my thoughts of those…” He looked up at the ‘’sky’’ making Maki follow his gaze, she was about to ask what he meant when she first noticed the huge wall around them and then looked up at the sky which made it look like they were trapped in a birdcage. “What the hell…” She whispered that under her breath before turning her eyes to friend, “What are those walls?!”

She had only just asked that when they heard five voices that Shuichi knew he would hate faster than a joke about THE girl and her involvement in the destruction of- … He threw those thoughts out of his head, not wanting to think of what huge catastrophe they had avoided, even if just barely, but still with THAT high-school as casualties, except a few student who was transferred to Saishuu, and had started the reason, Saishuu students had to act like normal students, outside the schoolgrounds.

“Rise and shine, Ursine!”

Shuichi wasn’t sure if Maki was aware of the fact, that she made a yelp when the five monocubs appeared in front of them. “Demon spawns!” She yelled that before getting ready to kick one of them, but was held back by Shuichi, who was trying to pull her out of range, “Maki, calm down! Remember they have the Exisals!”

Neither of Shuichi or Maki noticed it, but the bears looked confused at each other when Shuichi told Maki that they had the Exisals but quickly went back to Maki’s question. “Those walls are literally the end of the world, nothing exists beyond them!” Even if both knew it was a lie, was both acting like they were surprised over hearing this. “Does that mean we are trapped here?” If Maki hadn’t known that Shuichi was just acting, would she already have smacked him on the back of his head.

“Do you bastards have other questions?” Both humans glared at the white-yellow glass wearing bear while saying “No.” at the same time. The white-red bear who was wearing a scarf tilted his head a bit, “Well, at least these two seems smarter than the other girl and her avocado friend.” This made them unsure if it was a compliment for them, or an insult to the ones that the bears talked about. Shuichi was about to ask something when all the bears said the same line as one.

“So long! bear-well!” 

Both was silent from hearing the pun that they didn’t comment on how they disappeared. It took a couple of moments before they moved again, and Maki made a groan. “You’ll have to remind me, not to hurt those things every time we see them…” This earned her a weak little chuckle, “Dully noted Maki… I was only holding you back for your own safety.” They laughed for a short while when they saw a blue-haired girl walk over to them.

“Excuse me, but I don’t think we have seen each other before?” Maki tilted her head a bit and raised an eye-brow. She didn’t know why, but from how ruffled the other girl’s clothes looked and small scratches on her skin had she either been in a fight or something had fallen close to her and had given her those scratches and the clothes would only look like that if she had tried to brush dust of it. “No, this is the first time we’ve met… I’m Maki Harukawa, Ultimate Child Caregiver, and this is Shuichi Saihara.” Shuichi made a small wave as Maki said his name. “He’s the Ultimate Detective… and you are?” The bluette smiled at them, “I’m Tsumugi Shirogane. I’m the Ultimate Cosplayer. Nice to meet you!”

Both ultimates couldn’t explain it but something made them feel like they should have their guards up around her, but neither of them made it show, not even when the girl asked them the question that they now were happy to have confirmed from asking everyone inside. “My memory is plain bad right now but, does either of you remember anything before you came here?”

It was only slightly but Maki noticed Tsumugi’s eyes having a relieved look, if only for a split second when Shuichi shook his head. “Sorry, but neither of us remember anything else but getting kidnapped.” Tsumugi might have looked innocent enough as she placed a finger on her chin and placed the elbow in her other hand, “Well that’s just plain sad…” She kept the look but the tone she used to the next words made both of them feel a shiver down their spine and raise the red flag in their minds, “I hope that nothing bad is going to happen to us.”

Shuichi shook the feeling of him before he asked, “Shirogane-san... where did you get those scratches?” The bluette looked like she was now thinking back, “Well from what I plainly remember was I looking around and came across a rec-room filled with sports thing. I got curious and looked around when I accidently made things fall down and I got those scratches, that I then used the girl’s bathroom to clean.”

Neither Maki or Shuichi was letting down their guards as they made a nod as they walked away from her with the same thoughts. Tsumugi was hiding something, and that something, was NOT going to be in their or any of the kidnapped best favor.


	5. The beginning of the nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eon: Eyy~ I'm not dead!
> 
> Shuichi: I hoped she had forgotten us...
> 
> Maki: You should have known that she would be back eventually... 
> 
> Eon: Sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy~

There was silence between Shuichi and Maki as they walked. Neither knowing what to say after the encounter with Tsumugi, it wasn’t long before they reached a spot with a bench where they sat down. There was a minute of awkward silence before Maki said what they both knew but didn’t want to say out loud. “There’s a high chance that some of those we have met are working with those who took us here…” This earned her a silent nod before she saw him take some sort pad up from his pocket, “It seems Monokuma let us have these things…”

 

Shuichi knew from what he had been able to gather of information on the bear, that nothing about him was predictable, and that even if he wanted to, then he knew that Maki was the only one he could completely trust. And even if he didn’t realize it, was the assassin feeling the same trust as him.

 

Maki took her own device up and powered it up just to be met with a “Welcome Maki Harukawa, Ultimate assassin” on the screen which made her promise herself, only to show it to her friend sitting beside her. She checked the mechanics when she noticed a particular “app”. “Seems like the bear gave us some sort of way to see who’s here, and what their ‘’talent’’ is…” Maki didn’t need to look at her friend to know that they were both being tense while they flipped through the personal info page to find the same person…

 

Neither of them noticed it, but both of them was holding their breath as they found the page:

 

 

 

**Maki Harukawa**

**Height       5’4’’            Weight             97 lbs.**

**Chest         30’’             Blood Type         A**

**D.O.B.           February 2**

**Likes        Morning lake shores**

**Dislikes       Winter lake shores**

**Notes      Ultimate Child Caregiver**

Neither of them wanted to admit it, but when they read that Maki’s Ultimate talent was being a child caregiver were they both letting out a relieved sigh. Their secret about Maki’s real talent would stay secret, if just for a bit longer.

 

Both friends had been so focused on finding Maki’s page, that they had missed the sound of the footsteps made by the purple haired male, who stood in front of them, and surprised them by speaking. “Hey, aren’t you going? Someone told us over the monitors to gather in the gym hall!” The dread that the two ultimates felt was nowhere to be seen on Shuichi’s nor Maki’s faces as they looked at the stranger. “Thanks for the reminder.” Shuichi made a smile as he nodded.

 

Shuichi had many questions he wanted to ask, like why he was wearing the jacket with one arm out of the sleeve, but there was something, that was a bit more important to ask; “I don’t think we’ve met before… I’m Shuichi Saihara, ultimate detective, what’s your name?” That question made the spiky-haired person smile while banging his fists against each other. “I am Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! Even crying children adore the Ultimate Astronaut!” Both looked curious at Kaito before Maki opened her mouth. “Maki Harukawa… Ultimate Child Caregiver…” Kaito smiled before he turned around, “Nice to meet ya, but I’m going to see what’s going on in the gym!”

 

They looked after the astronaut who disappeared into the building, and it wasn’t long after that, that Maki made a sigh as they both packed their pads away and stood up. “We probably should get going too… Who knows what important stuff that Monokuma would hide if we arrive too late…” Maki didn’t like the words her friend spoke one bit. But she knew, they had no choice but to play by the bear’s rules for now, if they wanted to keep their advantages a secret.

 

They quickly found their way to the gym but right before Shuichi could open the door, was a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see that it was Maki who was looking serious at him, “Those others we met… will they remember, if we act differently than last time?” Shuichi frowned a bit since he too was a bit unsure on that point. He was pretty sure that he could say with confidence that the other HUMANS wouldn’t remember, but what he was much less sure of, was if Monokuma and the five beings who called themselves the ‘monocubs’, remembered how the two of them acted and would get suspicious. “I don’t know Maki… The best-case scenario would be that the bear didn’t pay attention to us last time…” The assassin was sure she wouldn’t like the answer but asked anyway. “And the worst-case scenario would be?”

 

Shuichi made a quiet, nervous chuckle as he looked at Maki. “Worst-case scenario? Monokuma remembers how we reacted to the exisals last time and will compare our reaction to the robots this time and last time we saw them… I don’t really know what will happen.” Maki usually enjoyed the moments when Shuichi was letting her imagination go wild, but from what she had sneak peaked of what Shuichi had on the bear, had made her worry for her friend’s safety.

 

Maki would normally not have cared for anyone else’s safety as much as she cared for Shuichi, who had without her knowing how sneaked into her heart. It had not been love at first sight, nor had they been friends from the moment they first spoke, but they had, after some time of knowing each other for some time, just clicked like they were siblings.

 

Maki grabbed the handle and opened the door to the gym. When stepped inside were they looking around, and Shuichi wasn’t too surprised that the other persons in the room didn’t look at them with too much recognition in their eyes, but with a curious look like they were looking at some persons, they had only seen once or, in some few cases, never seen before. They quietly walked inside the room, Shuichi being careful not to look as anxious as he felt with the knowledge of that Monokuma could show up when they least waited for it, while Maki had to restrain herself from trying to calm her friend down since they had to act like they were strangers to each other.

 

The two friends tried to look like that they knew just as little as the others while talking about the people they had met, and what their opinion was, but the ‘’peace’’ would soon be replaced, as the repeating started.

 

All 14 people in the gym hall turned their heads when they heard the doors open and had Kaede and Rantaro walk through them. Maki looked at her friend and couldn’t help but look worried at him. She wasn’t sure if the others were noticing it, but she could see that Shuichi was getting more and more anxious, like he was waiting for something, but didn’t know when it would happen.

 

Shuichi was trying to keep all the dread he felt hidden. Having to keep all of the secrets, he and Maki shared, hidden for everyone else, while being under the bear’s mercy was making him think that the worst-case scenario was about to happen, until he felt someone take his hand. He looked to the side and sound that it had been Maki who was holding his hand while looking at him with a rare soft look, which somehow always calmed him down and made a smiled nod as thanks.

 

Shuichi had just calmed down, but it didn’t take long for the two ultimates to raise their guards, when some voices that they remembered all too well sounded before five large robots, or rather Exisals as the ‘’bears’’ introduced them as. Both of the Saishuu students, wanted to facepalm from Kaede’s next words since they already knew what mess they were in, “What do you want from us?!”

 

Neither of the ultimates wanted to be the mean one to think that her hair color matched those words, and was ‘’lucky’’ since the blue one, began to answer with something about being about to say something that gave him ‘’a rock hard boner’’ but green one spoke two words with a mechanical voice, “Killing game.” Neither of Maki and Shuichi was too surprised when they saw the others slowly descent into panic, dread and, what they both knew the mastermind wanted, despair. Shuichi grinded his teethes as he was getting sick of the bears inside the robots, fighting between each other and was about to say something he would have regretted if it wasn’t for the fact that he froze on the spot, from hearing the voice he knew only spelled trouble.

 

“Now, now, you shouldn’t fight between each other! You are too cute for that.” Maki knew on the spot that the bear who appeared from nowhere on the stage with wings, who fell off when he landed on the podium, would cause more trouble than the start of Shuichi and Maki’s friendship and that had been anything but peaceful. She made a sigh as the bear named different ways to kill and couldn’t deny that it was impressive how many ways it knew to kill others with.

 

She had tuned the blonde girl out as she looked at Rantaro. The green haired was looking like he was analyzing the situation, but it was still an uncomfortable mystery in her mind that she didn’t know if she could really trust him or not. She was lost in her thoughts when she heard a sound coming from multiple places in the room and took the device that she and Shuichi had looked through earlier and saw something new. Rules that she was guessing that everyone else was also looking at.

 

**#1: Students are required to cohabitate at the Ultimate Academy for the remainder of the unforeseeable future.**

**#2: When a murder is committed in the academy, a class trial will be conducted. Participation in this trial is mandatory for all surviving students.**

**#3: If the blackened is correctly identified during the class trial, only the blackened will be punished for their crime.**

**#4: If the blackened cannot be identified, or if an incorrect student is identified as the blackened, all students except the blackened will be punished for the crime.**

**#5: If the blackened survives the class trial, they are declared the winner. At which point, they will graduate from the Ultimate Academy and re-enter the outside world.**

**#6: If the spotless continue to survive class trials, the killing game will continue until only two students remain.**

**#7: "Nighttime" is officially designated as the hours between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. During this time, the dining hall and gymnasium are closed.**

**#8: All acts of violence toward Monokuma, the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy, are strictly prohibited.**

**#9: Monokuma will never directly participate in a murder.**

**#10: Your Monopads are very important items. Make sure you do not damage them.**

**#11: A body discovery announcement will occur when three or more students discover a body.**

**#12: Students have free rein to explore the Ultimate Academy as they see fit.**

**#13: Students who violate these rules will be exterminated with extreme prejudice by the Exisals.**

**#14: The headmaster may add additional regulations to this list at any time**

 

Shuichi and Maki looked confused at each other, but before Shuichi could ask were Kaede already asking, “What does ‘’the blackened’’ mean?” Everyone was more or less confused before Rantaro spoke up, “If you try too look between the lines in the rules, would my guess be that “the blackened” would be the killer and “the spotless” would be the innocent, am I right Monokuma?” This made the bear chuckle for some reason. “Upupupu, that’s right, so I’m getting excited to see how you will get away with the murder!”

 

It was not long after that, that Monokuma and the cubs disappeared with their Exisals and the students could walk around again. There was an awkward silence since no one was moving, but only just to the moment Kaede spoke up, “Geeze, we need to cheer up! Monokuma wants us to fall into despair, so let us show that bear that he won’t get us ultimates that easily!” Both Saishuu students looked at each other with a hidden pity in their eyes, like they were pitying the others for having their memories erased and replaced by something making them think they were real ultimates, but one other person had caught their attention, Kokichi who wasn’t cheering like the others.

 

After Kaede’s little speech was everyone walking around again. Almost everyone was walking around exploring the environments… The only ones who didn’t was Maki and Shuichi who had made their way to the library, which they had almost made their unspoken meeting place. Shuichi closed the door behind them when they had entered the room and there was total silence for a moment before both made a deep sigh as Maki walked over to a bookshelf as her detective friend spoke. “Finally, I thought for a moment that she wouldn’t stop talking about friendship and working together, what does she think this is? My little pony?!”

 

He stopped for a moment when he heard Maki laugh, and began to chuckle a bit when he thought about what he just said but both stopped when they heard a click coming from the bookshelf Maki had been leaning up against but had accidently pushed to a book. Maki hurried over to Shuichi’s side as the shelf began to move, but what surprised them more was what that was hidden behind. A hidden door in the colors white and black.


	6. Problems (A/N)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An apology from me.

Hi guys! I KNOW I've said that I was going to have the next chapter of this done in a couple of days, but... I have to say sorry since I have to delay it.

 

The reason is that I feel dangerously close to be burned out and the writing began to feel like a chore, and that is NOT what I want. I want to be able of being proud of the chapters I give you but lately the words just seems wrong... So I'm going to take a little brake from writing and get better and not make big mistakes.

I will NOT give up on this story, I just need a little time to recover and I'm sorry for that.

 

I hope you'll continue to like the story and I'll return as soon as possible...

~ Eon


End file.
